Loom

ABSTRACT

A hobby loom, for use when resting on a table or the like or supported in part by the lap of the user, and especially adapted to use either a rigid heddle, for tabby weaving, or string heddles, for inkle weaving. The loom includes side assemblies pivotally supporting a warp beam and a cloth beam and fixedly supporting a cross beam, the neutral shed defined by the cross beam and the warp beam being higher above the base of the loom than the bottom of a rigid heddle in the down shed position. The side assemblies further include means for supporting string heddles, and for maintaining a rigid heddle in both up shed and down shed positions.

United States Patent 91 Hanson [4 1 Feb. 25, 1975 LOOM [75] Inventor:

22 Filed: Aug. 26, 1974 211 App1.No.:590,249

James E. Hanson, Anoka, Minn.

[52] [1.5. CI. 139/33, 139/29 [51] Int. Cl D03d 29/00 [58] Field ofSearch 139/29, 33

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-MervinStein Assistant ExaminerSteven Hawkins Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Merchant, Gould, Smith & Edell [57] ABSTRACT A hobby loom, for usewhen resting on a table or the like or supported in part by the lap ofthe user, and especially adapted to use either a rigid heddle, for tabbyweaving, or string heddles, for inkle weaving. The loom includes sideassemblies pivotally supporting a warp beam and a cloth beam and fixedlysupporting a cross beam, the neutral shed defined by the cross beam andthe warp beam being higher above the base of the loom than the bottom ofa rigid heddle in the down shed position. The side assemblies furtherinclude means for supporting string heddles, and for maintaining a rigidheddle in both up shed and down shed positions.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures LOOM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to the field of weaving, and more particularly torelatively small and inexpensive hand looms for use by hobby weavers.Home weaving is a craft that is of growing popularity, and looms forthis purpose are being particularly designed for compactness and modestcost. As customarily used they are supported on a table tope or thelike, the front or cloth end of the loom often resting in the weaverslap.

lnkle looms and tabby looms are both known, the former having stringheddles, with sheds being formed by the weavers fingers, and the laterhaving a rigid heddle which the weaver raises or lowers to create thesheds and also use as a beater. The shed has heretofore been maintainedby the rigid heddle in one hand of the user, while the other hand isused to pass the shuttle therethrough. This coordinated performance oftwo different functions by the weavers two hands simultaneously callsfor considerable skill, particularly if even tension in the weft is tobe maintained. Aside from the differences in heddling and shedformation, tabby and inkle looms are much alike, to the point where theowner of both looms has a considerable portion of its investment tied upin redundency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is toprovide an improved single loom readily adapted to either tabby or inkleweaving, and particularly arranged for simplified heddle manipulation intabby weaving. This is accomplished by a special design of sideassembly, in three cooperative aspect. In the first place, the cloth,warp, and cross beams are mounted at different heights to define aneutral shed which is substantially horizontal. In the second place,means are provided to receive string heddle support means and warpthread guide means so located that the neutral shed of the inkle loom isthe same as that of the tabbyloom. In the third place, means areincorporated for retaining the rigid heddle in both an up shed and adown shed position, in cooperation with the warp thread tension, so thatboth the weavers hands are free to manage the shuttle and the warptension.

It is accordingly a principal object of the invention to provide a newand useful loom. Another object is to provide a craft type loom usefulboth in tabby weaving and inkle weaving. A more specific object of theinvention is to provide such a loom in which management of a rigidheddle is facilitated. Yet another object of the invention is to providesuch a loom having a side assemblies specifically designed to accomplishthe desired object of increased versatility and increased convenience.

Various other objects, advantages, and features of novelty whichcharacterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in theclaims annexed hereto and forming a part hereof. However, for a betterunderstanding of the invention, its advantages, and objects attained byits use, reference should be had to the drawing which forms a furtherparthereof, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which thereis illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing FIG. 1 is an explodedview of the loom;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the loom in use for tabby weavs;

FIGS. 4 and 5 show it for use in inkle weaving; and

FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 show details.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a looml0 embodying the invention is shown to comprise a left side assembly 11and a right side assembly 12. Assembly 11 is made up of a side beam 13and a side plate 14 secured thereto by suitable means such as screws 15.Assembly 12 is made up of a side beam 16 and a side plate 17, which maybe similarly assembled. Adjacent the side plates the lower edges of theside beams are notched at their ends, as suggested at 20.

Associated with asseblies 11 and 12 are a warp beam 21 a cloth beam 22,and a cross beam 23. Warp beam 21 comprises a beveled square wooden barhaving central pivots 24, inserted into its ends for passing throughappropriate holes in side plates 14, 17, and threaded outwardly toreceive wing nuts 25 clamping the beam between the plates. Cloth beam 22is similarly centered on pivots 26 and is clamped between the ends ofside beams 13 and 16 by wing nuts 27. Cross beam 23 is mounted on thetops of side beams 13 and 16 by means such as dowel pins 30 received in.suitable holes in the cross beam.

The relative locations of beams 21, 22, and 23 is such that a line fromthe top of beam 23 passing over beam 21 defines the neutral shed of theloom for both tabby and inkle weaving. For tabby weaving a rigid heddle31 is used, comprising upper and lower bars 32 and 33 in which are fixeddents 34. The dents are separated by small spaces 35 (see FIG. 8) andare conveniently supplied in assemblies of 5 inches unit length, forexample. Each dent has a aperture 36 and the apertures are aligned alongthe heddle centrally between the two bars. The positions of beams 21 and23 are such that the height of the neutral shed above a surface on whichthe loom may be placed is greater than d/2 s, where dis the width of theheddle and s is the size of the shed. The distance s of course is nogreater than the distance S in FIG. 8.

Each of plates 14 and 17 is provided at its front edge with an uppernotch 37 and a lower notch 40. Referring now to FIG. 3, the stationarywarp threads are shown at 41, and the movable threads at 42, 42". Whenthe upper bar 32 of heddle 31 rests on the bottom of notches 37, themoving threads are at 42 to create up shed X through which the warpthread is passed. A shuttle for that purpose is shown at 38 in FIG. 1.When the upper bar rests under the tops of notches 40, the movingthreads are at 42" to create the down shed Y. It is customary for thesheds to be approximately equal, although this of course varies slightlywith the amount of thread wound on beam 21.

Initial warping of the loom is facilitated by the provision of tie bars43, 44.-After the desired number of warp threads are tied onto a bar, itis positioned against pins 45, 46 in warp beam 21 or cloth beam 23 andthe threads are easily wound onto the beam.

For inkle weaving a string heddle support 50 is inserted in a suitableaperture 51 formed in side beam 13 to receive it. And a thread guide 52is secured to the side plate 14 by a stud 53 passing through an aperture54 in the side plate and held by a wing nut 55. The desired number ofstring heddles 56 are placed on support 50, and the loom is warped,alternate threads following two different paths. One set of threadspasses over cross beam 23 and warp beam 21, under support 50, and aroundcloth beam 22 to cross beam 23, the ends of these threads being tiedtogether as at 57. if the length of the threads so warped is notsufficient, the thread may be looped around a further pin 60 received ina selected socket 51 inside beam 13: any desired plurality of socketsmay be provided. The other set of threads passes over cross beam 23,through string heddles 56, over guide 52, around warp beam 21, undersupport 50, and around cloth beam 22 to cross beam 23, including a looparound pin 60 if desired, the ends of these threads are also being tiedtogether as at 57. At this time all the threads lie in a neutral shedbetween the cross beam and the location of the string heddles. Theweaver creates the up shed X and the down shed Y by raising or loweringwith his fingers the threads which do not pass through the stringheddles, and passes the weft thread through the shed so formed with hisother hand, or if desired with a small shuttle 62. The relatively smallnumber of warp threads used in inkle weaving makes a shuttle adispensible adjunct.

ln either tabby weaving or inkle weaving beams 21 and 22 areoccasionally rotated in the same direction, to give the weaver properworking space. Tension of the warp is adjusted by manipulating the beamsseparately.

Numerous objects and advantages of the invention have been set forth inthe foregoing description, together with details of the structure andfunction of the invention, and the novel features thereof are pointedout in the appended claims. The disclosure, however, is illustrativeonly, and changes may be made in detail especially in matters of shape,size, and arrangement of parts, within the principle of the invention,to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the termsin which the appended claims are expressed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a loom:

a side assembly;

means in said side assembly for pivotally mounting a warp beam and acloth beam;

means in said assembly for receiving a cross beam so that a line betweensaid cross beam and said warp beam defines a neutral shed for the loom;

means in said assembly for receiving a string heddle support;

means in said assembly for maintaining a rigid heddle in both an up shedposition and a down shed position, the neutral shed of said loom beingthe same for string heddles and for the rigid heddles;

and means in said assembly for receiving a guide for warp threadspassing out of said neutral shed between the string heddles and the warpbeam.

2. In a loom:

a warp beam;

a cloth beam;

at cross beam;

a pair of side assemblies for mounting the loom on a flat surface;

means in said side assemblies for pivotally mounting said warp beam andsaid cloth beam, and for securing said cross beam so that a line betweensaid cross beam and said warp beam defines a neutral shed for the loom;

means in said side assembly for maintaining a rigid heddle in both an upshed position and a down shed position;

and means in at least one of said assemblies for receiving a stringheddle support and a guide for warp threads passing out of said neutralshed between the string heddles and the warp beam.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the bottoms of saidassemblies at the ends of adjacent said warp beam are notched to engagethe edge of a table or the like when the loom is held in the weaverslap.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 together with a rigid heddle having anarray of dents and an upper bar with ends projecting beyond said dentsfor cooperating with the second named means, said second named meanscomprising means for receiving the projecting ends of said rigid heddleto maintain the heddle in both an up shed position and a down shedposition under the tension of warp threads in the dents in the saidheddle.

1. In a loom: a side assembly; means in said side assembly for pivotallymounting a warp beam and a cloth beam; means in said assembly forreceiving a cross beam so that a line between said cross beam and saidwarp beam defines a neutral shed for the loom; means in said assemblyfor receiving a string heddle support; means in said assembly formaintaining a rigid heddle in both an up shed position and a down shedposition, the neutral shed of said loom being the same for stringheddles and for the rigid heddles; and means in said assembly forreceiving a guide for warp threads passing out of said neutral shedbetween the string heddles and the warp beam.
 2. In a loom: a warp beam;a cloth beam; a cross beam; a pair of side assemblies for mounting theloom on a flat surface; means in said side assemblies for pivotallymounting said warp beam and said cloth beam, and for securing said crossbeam so that a line between said cross beam and said warp beam defines aneutral shed for the loom; means in said side assembly for maintaining arigid heddle in both an up shed position and a down shed position; andmeans in at least one of said assemblies for receiving a string heddlesupport and a guide for warp threads passing out of said neutral shedbetween the string heddles and the warp beam.
 3. Apparatus according toclaim 2 in which the bottoms of said assemblies at the ends of adjacentsaid warp beam are notched to engage the edge of a table or the likewhen the loom is held in the weaver''s lap.
 4. Apparatus according toclaim 2 together with a rigid heddle having an array of dents and anupper bar with ends projecting beyond said dents for cooperating withthe second named means, said second named means comprising means forreceiving the projecting ends of said rigid heddle to maintain theheddle in both an up shed position and a down shed position under thetension of warp threads in the dents in the said heddle.